Thief: Deadly Shadows

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The end of Words is coming.

By Tom McNamara

Before Splinter Cell was a twinkle in Tom Clancy's eye, the stealth action genre was humming with activity, thanks in large part to its creator, Warren Spector, who bowled us over with Thief: The Dark Project back in 1998. Thief was a much different kind of action game--it was much darker, much slower-paced, and drenched with tension as Garrett slinked through shadows and wove around heavily-armed guards who could hear him rustling around. Well, it's now been four years since the release of the last title in the series, but Thief: Deadly Shadows is promising to give Sam Fisher and Rikimaru a run for their money.

Deadly Shadows, tentatively scheduled for a June release, picks up the threads at an indeterminate time after The Metal Age, and Garrett, the cynical loner, is still doing his thing as a liberator of valuable merchandise. Over the course of the series, Garrett has dealt with three factions, focusing on one in each installment. Before, it was the Pagans, then the Hammerites. Now, it is about the Keepers, who actually trained Garrett as one of their own before he left under unusual circumstances. They come to him with a prophecy stating, among other things, that "The end of Words is coming." By their interpretation, a Keeper will betray them and destroy the city, and Garrett's name pops up everywhere in their ancient prediction. He agrees to help them figure out what's going on, but is quickly embroiled in intrigue. Along the way, he discovers information and comes across items that tell him he's not getting the full story.

Editor's Note: This hands-on is based off the PC version of Thief: Deadly Shadows, but gameplay is very similar on Xbox. We'll have our fist Xbox hands-on soon.

Now that we have the back-story out of the way, let's talk about what it's like to put your hands inside the gloves of an infamous thief. Each mission begins with a voice-over briefing (which includes text if you're the impatient type). You can check out schematics, inventory, and other details before you get a-stealin'. Once inside, you have a bevy of options at your disposal. This is a much more open environment than what we've seen in Splinter Cell, example. You'll be wandering through fully fleshed-out interiors and exteriors, and tactical variety is more widespread than before. Garrett can now defend himself reasonably well against a lone guard, but you're still better off sticking to the shadows, because they'll make noise and the cavalry is never far behind.

Let's talk about some of the cool things you can do. We were guided through one scene in which Garrett laid down a large batch of explosive mines, then shot a noisemaker arrow at them to have the guards walk right into a chunky death. You could also empty an oil flask at the entrance, then light the oil with a fire arrow as the guards come outside. The guards will slip and fall on the oil, so it's also a good item for a quick getaway. Flash bombs are also pretty effective, blinding and disorienting everyone for a few seconds. Also, you don't have to use a water arrow to take out some lights. With candles, you can simply walk up to them and snuff them out with your fingertips. You can also use a water arrow to snuff out the torches the guards carry. If you actually want to light a torch, you can use a fire arrow. You'll also be able to buy some gloves a little ways into the game that allow you to climb walls and hang in the darkness like Spiderman. Lastly, there's the nifty moss arrow. You can fire it at the floor to prepare a quiet landing, or fire it at a guard's head, which will choke him on the moss and make him unable to warn the others.

The scene with the explosive mines took place outside a church, and there was an unarmed guy hanging around outside. What's cool is that if and when he spots you, he'll immediately go looking for the nearest guard for help. When you're found, you'll also hear "custom barks," meaning NPCs will talk to each other with the dialogue customized to where you are, like in Far Cry. Two hundred thousands words of recorded dialogue means you'll hear a pretty large variety of phrases, and you'll be able to use what they say to find a good hiding place. Another level of added realism involves being able to frame bystanders. When something is stolen, you're not necessarily the automatic suspect, to be quickly chopped up and disposed of. In certain situations, there will be other people milling around, and if you're quick enough, you can get in and out, hang back and watch the fur fly. Since the combat model is more assassin-oriented rather than solider-oriented, it's nice to have features like these to help you create confusion and disarray. There are some rather non-human guards you'll be going up against, but Spector was hesitant to divulge any details, except to say that they would only represent a small percentage of the game.